STEVEN Davis was delighted to help Saints take a valuable point off Newcastle.

But the Northern Ireland midfielder was agonisingly close to making it all three, hitting the outside of the left post with a sensational volley before setting up Jay Rodriguez’s equaliser.

“Obviously it would have been nice to see that one go in, it was a great ball in from Morgan, he fired it in, it sat up nicely for me and I decided to have a go,” he said.

“I probably couldn’t have caught it any sweeter but it was a small margin and just the wrong side of the post.”

Few could have argued with the result had Saints left St James Park with three points for the first time since 1997.

“You always feel a bit disappointed not to get the three points, but I’m sure Newcastle will feel the same,” Davis continued. “They had a couple of chances as well, it was a good game with both teams trying their best to get the three points.

“After going a goal behind at a tough place to come it’s another good point away from home.

“We always knew it was going to be difficult, Newcastle are high in confidence after the results they’ve had recently.

“We were too rigid in the first half but the manager made a couple of decisions at half-time and the two lads had an impact.

“The second half was more like us, the game opened up a little which worked to our advantage.”

Saints have now come from behind to take an impressive point in successive matches, following last week’s 1-1 draw against Manchester City.

“You’re not always going to get it easy in terms of going in front against teams and in the last couple of weeks we’ve shown a lot of character,” Davis added.

“Some of the lads who haven’t played a lot have come in and stepped up to the mark which has been great to see. Everyone in the squad is pushing each other to get in the XI.”